IOC bans London from conducting qualifiers for 2024 Olympics due to UK position on Russian and Belarusian athletes

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has deprived London of the right to conduct qualifying competitions in new sports for the 2024 Olympics because of the UK government position on the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes.

Source: The Times

Details: The IOC Executive Board has informed the British Olympic Association (BOA) that it will no longer consider London as a venue for the competition and is currently exploring other alternatives in Europe to host this series.

The IOC's decision stems from the UK government's insistence that Russian and Belarusian athletes must sign a personal declaration of neutrality and agree not to support the war in Ukraine if they want to compete in the UK.

Athletes must also declare that they will not support the leadership of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and that they cannot receive any state funding from Russia.

The publication reports that the decision caused concern in British Olympic circles, hoping for the performance of British athletes in new sports in front of their native audience as part of their efforts to win a place in Paris next month. Now, they will have to go abroad for this.

Quote: "We are extremely disappointed... It is particularly frustrating for those British athletes who are now missing out on the advantage of striving to qualify for Paris in front of a passionate home crowd", said a BOA spokesman.

Accordingly, the ban will apply to sports such as break dance, skateboarding, sport climbing and BMX freestyle.

Background: 

• In January, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the beginning of a Marathon of Honesty, which will be aimed at cleansing hypocrisy from the international Olympic leadership and preventing any attempts to bring representatives of Russia back into the world of sport.
• Zelenskyy wrote a letter to the presidents of the world's leading sports federations, urging them to make up their minds about the International Olympic Committee's decision to reinstate Russian athletes in international competitions.  
• IOC President Thomas Bach said that he wants to "explore the possibility" of returning athletes from Russia and Belarus to international sports, even though this may be the reason for the boycott of the competition by Ukraine.
• Russia's Foreign Ministry has said any attempt to oust Moscow from international sport over the war, which it calls its "special military operation" in Ukraine, is "doomed to fail."
• In March, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has recommended that international sports federations allow athletes from Russia and Belarus to take part in tournaments as neutrals, but has postponed its response concerning their participation in the Olympics.

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